Rail-bond.



APPLIG w. E. FOSTER.

L BOND.

FILED DEC. 6, 1905.

5206?? 2%?7 Zc zZz enZZZgS PATEN TED APR. 2, 190'),-

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, WALTER E. Fosrnn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRail-Bonds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvement in theclass of rail-bonds wherein asingle conducting-wire is secured at opposite ends in holes through thewebs of adjacent rails. Bonds of this type are employed more than anyother, particularly in signaling systems, for'the reason they arecomparatively inexpensive-and easy to apply. It has been the usualpractice hitherto to provide bonds of thi s'type in the form of roundiron or copper wires and to fasten them the rail-web open- ,ingsby meansof steel keys or pins preparaj 'torilyformed with concentric oreccentric '2,- openings which receive the wire ends. Round .wires orWires round in cross-section at their ends are objectionable whenfastened in the manner stated, because it has been found I necessary toemploy keys or pins which preclude or permit but little physical contactbetween the wire and metal of the rail. It -ffrequently happens that thekeys or pins have oxidized at their surfaces, so that when the wires arepassed into them and they are passed through the rail-openings anoxidized film intervenes at the joints and interferes with the passageof the electric current. Those connections which produce limitedphysical contact between the Wires and metal at the holes in the web donot always overcome the objection against improper conductivity,because, as a rule, the physical contact is not more than a hairsbreadth and insufiicient to prevent retarding of the current. Moreover,in all of the constructions heretofore provided, as far as I am aware,the wire and key are of a different shape and dimension than the openingin the rail to be bonded, thereby requiring in the application of thebond to use a re-forming of the part of the Wire and key which entersthe opening to more or less fill it. This re-form ing operation takesplace during the driving of the key, and it is therefore necessary toexert against the latter in driving it sufficient force to change theshape of these parts to conform as closely as possible to the opening inthe rail. A further disadvantage attending the referred-to priorconstructions is Specification of Letters Patent. Application filedDecember 6,1905. Serial No. 290.551.

unrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE. WALTER E. roar fin, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-BOND.

Patented April 2, 1 7.

portions of the wire and key within the hole in the rail to fill thehole and therefore pro-- duce uniformcontact therewith of the wire andkey.

My object is to overcome the objections to bonds of this type ashitherto constructed by providing a construction of wire or Wire end andpin or key which insures extensive physical contact between the surfaceof the wire and metal of the rail and does not require re-forming duringits application to use a re-forming of the wire and'key.

' Referring to the drawings, Figure'l is a broken fragmentary sectionalview 'showing my improvements in one preferred form; o

that of uncertainty of expansion of all the- 2, a fragmentary view,being a section on 2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, aview similar to but showinganother construction} In Figs. 1 wires A are semicylindrical' andthe-pins or keys B are also semicylin conforming in I mension, bothbefore and afterlap'plication to use, to an opening a in the'web of'arail 0. I prefer that the wires A shall be drawn to render themsemicylindrical throughout, and a section of the same wire, or a steelpin, may form the key B. Either the end of the wire or the key ispreferably tapered, as indicated, so that in fastening a Wire to therailthe wire may be passed through the opening a, a key placed against it,and then both driven to the position indicated. In thus driving the wireand pin any rust or the like that has collected in the opening a Will berubbed off, so that the surface of the metal of the Wire will be inphysical contact with the metal of the rail and produce a joint so tightas to preclude access of moisture or any other oxidizing influence whichwould tend to form an oxid between the said meeting surfaces.

In the construction shown in Fig. 3 the bonding element or wire A has abeveled end I), and the outer end portion of the key is cyliridrical orprovided with an offset and preb. Thus in driving the parts intoposition in the hole a there is no danger of the wire and key spreadingapart and making an imperfect joint. In both these constructions eitherthe key or the Wire may be beveled in a manner to facilitate thedriving,though it is preferred to have the wire of the same size throughout itsend ortion and to bevel the key as shown. In Imth cases the key afterbeing driven into place may be bent downand 2 the'bonding eleinentscal,- 'said partsl shape and cross-sectional (II-.1,

sents a beveled shoulder c to fit over the end IIO in which the wire andkey cont ward, as indicated at d, to prevent backing out of the key fromany cause.

It is not necessary in carrying out my invention that the Wire end andkey be of equal cross-sectional area, as the key may be madecomparatively larger than the wire end, provided they both together arethe same in cross-sectional dimension and shape, both before and inapplication to use, to conform to the aperture of the rail to be bonded.

It is thus readily apparent inusing a bond orm in crosssectionaldimension and shape, both before and in their application to use, to theaper' ture in the rail to be bonded that onlysuch force as is sufiicientto wedge the parts in the opening need be employed, as the parts conformin shape and dimension to the railopening, thereby obviating thenecessity of reformation of the parts by driving the key with thenecessary expenditure of more time and labor.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. Arail-bond comprising, in combination, a metal bonding element and ametalkey, said bond, both before and in its application to use,conforming in cross-sectional dimension and in shape to the aperture ina rail to be bonded, whereby the bond is adapted to fit accurately andsnugly within said aperture without expanding it therein.

2. A rail-bond comprising, in combination, a metal bonding elementhaving the outer surface of each end portion of rounded shape incross-section, and a metal key for each said end having its outersurface of rounded shape in cross-section, said bond, both before and inits application to use, conforming in cross-sectional dimension andshape to the aperture in a rail to be bonded, whereby the bond isadapted to fit accurately and snugly Within said ,aperture withoutexpanding therein.

3. A rail-bond comprising, in combination, a metal bonding elementhaving semicylindrical end portions, and a semicylindricalmetal key foreach said end, said bond, both before and in its application to use,conforming in cross-sectional dimension and in shape to the aperture ina rail to be bonded, whereby the bond is adapted to fit accurately andsnugly within said aperture Without expanding therein.

4. A rail-bond comprising, in combination, a bonding element and a metalkey, said bond, both before and in its application to use, conforming incross-sectional dimension and in shape to the a erture in a rail to bebonded, whereby the bond is ada ted to fit accurately and'snugly withinsai aperture without expanding it therein, and an offset on said keyfitting over an end of the bonding element.

WALTER E. FOSTER. In presence of J. H. LANDES,

M. S. MACKENZIE.

